How to Look at Paintings
Understanding common art vernacular, helps you to see how a painting is
literally constructed, and this in turn will reveal how an artist's work can
evoke such strong emotions. Understanding the basics of composition, tone,
three-dimensional representation, and applied technique deepens your enjoyment
during a museum or gallery visit. Composition Composition is the
design of the painting. The artist uses lines and shapes to direct your
attention to a focal point. Your eye is drawn naturally to the part of the
picture that the artist wants you to look at first. Composition also has
to do with recognizable patterns. By grouping figures, objects, or landscape
elements, patterns are formed on the surface. An example of this is the
triangular pattern, a form exploited in the Renaissance by painters like
Leonardo da Vinci. This form, often referred to as the Renaissance triangle,
gives a feeling of stability and focuses your attention on the figures in the
center. The edges of the
pattern lead your eye around the picture. Some patterns give a painting a sense
of stillness and harmony; others give the picture movement and energy. Diagonal
lines, for example, instill a feeling of energy and force. How the subject of
the painting is organized within the picture will create a sense of deep or
shallow space. For example, how close to the picture plane are the figures or
objects? Are they set back, distancing the viewer from the scene, or do they
seem to project into the viewer's space? Think of the picture plane as a sheet
of glass in front of the picture (it is actually the literal surface of the
picture). Objects seem smaller, the further away they are. Tone Tone relates to the
range between the lightest and the darkest parts of the painting. The balance of
this range is sometimes called by the Italian term chiaroscuro. In some
paintings, the range will be very close; this is called a narrow range of tone.
In others, it can be quite dramatic; this is called a wide range of tone. Color, on the other
hand, can suggest mood. A predominantly blue painting might seem quiet and
reflective, or even melancholy, because of the use of cool colors. We still
sometimes say someone's got the blues when they're miserable! In
contrast, hot colors, such as red, can give a feeling of confidence and energy or anger. Landscape use color and light to suggest space. This technique is called
atmospheric or aerial perspective. Colors become bluer and fade, often
becoming lighter to suggest
recession. Hot colors, particularly reds, push things towards the viewer, and
this works with figures and objects too. Colors and lines will also become more
blurred in the distance, which not only helps to give a sense of recession, but
also allows the spectator to focus on the most important part of the painting
(usually the foreground). Three-dimensional
Representation Figures and
landscapes can be made to look three-dimensional on a two-dimensional surface in
a number of ways, for example, by the way they are drawn. This is called
delineation. Many paintings use
tone to convey three-dimensions. This is called modeling. But not all artists
use light and shade to model three-dimensional form. Cubism uses a completely
different system, which tries to show more than one view of an object in the
same picture. Think of, for example, the works of Picasso. A common way of
indicating distance and depth is to use linear perspective, which involves
straight lines receding to a vanishing point. Linear perspective makes use of a
point, or points, on the horizon to which all lines perpendicular to the picture
plane recede. Sometimes the vanishing point will be obvious, but if it is not,
don't spend ages looking for it! Buildings, or similar objects with straight
lines, make it easier to find the vanishing point. In some cases, like
abstract painting, there will not be a vanishing point. The vanishing point in
real life will always be at eye-level on the horizon, but the horizon can be
very high (giving us the feeling that we are looking down on the scene) or very
low (giving us the feeling that we are looking up). Technique How the artist
applies his paint is an important element in the overall effect. Is the
brushwork very detailed or applied very sketchily? The latter is called a
painterly technique. Has he or she used big, thick brushes or not used brushes
at all? Paint can be applied with a palette knife, fingers or even dripped
straight on to the surface, all of which creates a very different effect.
Different mediums (oil, acrylic, watercolor, pencil, pen, or ink) will make the
work look very different too. The elements
considered here are essential parts of any painting, and looking at art in this
way deepens your appreciation for the effort the artist has put into the art.
Especially when you think of why an artist has done something in a particular
way, you can begin to understand his or her thoughts and feelings while creating
this beautiful work.Art Vernacular
As a rule, artists will use the
most contrasting tones for the areas they most want to show up. Light tones are
used to focus attention on the main objects, although sometimes the reverse is
used with dark against light. The result is similar though: to make certain
areas stand out in the painting using contrast. Tone is used to create depth.
Sometimes the light in a painting is directional, like a spotlight; and
sometimes it is diffuse, like daylight.
